Scorpionweed and strawberry hedgehog cactus along the Lost Dog Wash Trail

Poppies along Lost Dog Wash Trail in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve

Lost Dog Wash Trail: This trail, as well as other spots in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve takes the cake for peak Mexican gold poppy bloom right now. According to Paul, who visited yesterday, “It’s screaming out there now!” In addition to the pretty little yellow flowers, scorpionweed, lupine, and several cacti – including strawberry hedgehog and pincushion – are also showing their colors in this desert landscape. For maps and trail information visit www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Assets/Public+Website/preserve/TrailMaps.pdf

Bartlett Lake (location #26 in our “Wild in Arizona: Photographing Arizona’s Wildflowers” book): The impressive show here continues with fields of poppies across many of the hillsides into this area and along Service Road 459. Though the abundant poppies on the hillsides around the saddle have peaked, last Saturday, there were still buds waiting to bloom north of the saddle (though not nearly in the same quantity as we saw near the saddle). Typical for this location, a great mix of blooms are still going strong with cream cups, lupine, chia, chuparosa, and desert marigold being most abundant right now. The brittlebush and globemallow are either budding or starting to show splashes of color. Watch for the perennials to peak in 7-10 days here.

Lake Pleasant Regional Park (location #21): Though the annual bloom of the Mexican gold poppy is in decline after a glorious show, plenty of flowers along the trail make a trip to the Pipeline Canyon Trail still worth the visit. The perennial bloom of desert globemallow and brittlebush has picked up since last week, but could use a little more time to peak.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum (location #37): The Desert Garden in the Demonstration Garden filled with penstemon, lupine, coral aloe, and an array of other blooms. A walk down the Main Trail from the Visitor Center to the Cactus and Succulent Garden won’t disappoint, as there are Texas mountain laurels, penstemon, some Mexican gold poppies, scorpionweed, and even some early blooming claret cup cactus.

Silly Mountain (location #32):Speeding by this location at 55 mph along Highway 60, the brittlebush high on the hillside appeared past peak, while the middle section looked at peak, and the flat bottom areas hadn’t even started blooming yet. Despite the strange (silly?), tiered bloom, plenty of excellent photo ops still exist!

Lake Pleasant: (location #21 in our “Wild in Arizona: Photographing Arizona’s Wildflowers” book) This location is AT PEAK or just slightly beyond when it comes to annuals. The entire hillside along the south end of the Pipeline Canyon Trail has burst into yellow with Mexican gold poppies and California poppies. I even saw a handful of albino poppies on the west side of the trail – something I’ve never seen outside of Bartlett Lake! There is a nice mix of other flowers, including lupine, blue dicks, scorpionweed, and fiddleneck. A very nice stand of bright orange globemallow begs for some nice photographs just south of the Pipeline Bridge. Though the poppies will only last another 7-10 days, the perennials like brittlebush are just starting to bud and show, so watch this location for the perennial bloom over the next two weeks.

Silly Mountain: (location#32) The ridiculously silly brittlebush bloom on this hillside along the highway has started almost a week or two early and will peak likely this week.

KEEP AN EYE ON IN NEXT 7-10 DAYS:

Albino Mexican Gold Poppy at Bartlett Lake on Sunday

Bartlett Lake: (location #26) The hillsides around the saddle area are looking spectacular right now – poppies, lupine, chuparosa, fiddleneck, cream cups, and chia. Though the areas north of the saddle along Service Road 459 are definitely showing a solid wildflower bloom – including the white albino and pink poppies! – a stroll through the desert revealed many, many buds still waiting to bloom. The shooting is great here right now, but I think this area will likely see peak in the next 7-10 days. Lots of potential still!

Silver King Mine Road: (location #38): Patches of poppies are evident along the east-facing mountain sides as you drive this recently graded dirt road. A short hike up the hillside will get you to a relatively young patch of poppies. A scattering of London rocket, fiddleneck, and lupine are also filling in. The verdict is still out as to whether we’ll see a spectacular bloom here, but there’s enough going on to warrant putting it on the watch list.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park: (location #37) Though not prolific yet, thus far, the Arboretum is showing perhaps the most diverse mix of desert blooms – poppies, globemallow, blue dicks, desert marigold, desert filaree, penstemon, popcorn flower, wild cucumber, and Mormon tea – along the Main Trail. Though good for ample photographic opportunities now, I think this spot will continue to get even better in the weeks ahead.

FORGET IT – SAVE YOUR GAS & TIME:

Saddle Mountain: (location #20) Unless you’d like to see what the desert looks like in spring when it doesn’t get enough rain, skip this location this year. There are a few scattered, tiny poppies, some scorpionweed and fiddlneck, three bladderpod mustard blooms, and a ton of small popcorn flower, which my husband suggested looked more like the bottom of the popcorn bag. Better luck next year…

Have you been out photographing the wildflowers in Arizona? Tell us what you’ve seen in your outings! We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks to an excellent Arizona Highways Photography Workshop “Bryce in Winter” last week, I wasn’t able to get out to chase wildflowers. However, en route to and from Utah, I made several Arizona-based wildflower observations worthy of sharing:

The Joshua trees north of Wickenburg along Highway 93 are starting to bloom, especially beyond the picnic area. I didn’t have a chance to check out Tres Alamos Wilderness (location #16 in our book), but I’d assume with confidence the Joshua trees there and in this area will continue to show their big cream-colored blooms for at least the next two weeks.

Nothing is blooming in Nothing yet (location #15).

The south-facing rolling hills south of Lake Pleasant along Highway 74/Carefree Highway are starting to show solid patches of yellow – poppies appear to be blooming quite well here, but didn’t have time to check out Lake Pleasant (location #21) proper to learn of the progress there.

Paul spent the week wandering around Cabeza Prieta, and though he captured some spectacular images of dune primrose and desert sand verbena, the area in bloom is very small and requires an arduous hike to see – not worth the long drive and safety risk. He also reported that Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Ajo (location # ) is a “no-show” for flowers this year.

It seems we aren’t the only ones “wild about wildflowers” this year! We’ve received some encouraging news from our blog readers within the last few days, including:

Jacque and Bob report that the Arizona Trail near the Picketpost Mountains outside of Superior as well as the roadsides near Florence Junction (location #34) has poppies and lupines.

Tom suggests that poppies are showing along the Go John Trail (location #25).

Bret saw one tiny patch of poppies along the Jacob’s Crosscut Trail in Lost Dutchman State Park (location #31), but not much else in the Superstitions area.

Weather forecasters are predicting rain for the Phoenix area on Friday and Saturday, with warming temperatures and much sun next week, which should encourage the blooms to continue showing around the Sonoran Desert.

If you’re looking to get ready for photographing wildflowers in Arizona, hear photographic tips, tricks, and inspiration at two upcoming FREE events this week:

Thursday, March 7, “Wild About Photographing Arizona’s Wildflowers” at 7 pm at the Northern Arizona University School of Communication (Building #16), Room 119

Saturday, March 9, “Mastering Macro Photography” presentations at 11 am and again at 2 pm, first-come, limited seating and book signing event at Tempe Camera